Lionel Messi’s insane records in a row: biggest ever at Barça and in Spain
Lionel Messi leaves FC Barcelona, but the Argentinian will forever be in the annals of the club and Spanish football. Messi collected countless trophies and records in 17 years of Barca. Below is a – non-exhaustive – overview. Feel free to sit down for a while.
Trophies
Lionel Messi’s trophy case is, of course, bulging. In total ‘La Pulga’, he won no less than 35 (!) prizes with Barcelona. Messi has the biggest trophy cabinet ever in La Liga. He precedes a lot of (ex) teammates. Andrés Iniesta is in second place with 32 prizes, followed by Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets with 30 prizes. In comparison, Real Madrid’s most successful player is Francisco Gento, who won ‘only’ 23 trophies between 1953 and 1971.
Messi’s first prize as a professional footballer was the Spanish title in the 2004-2005 season. The following season immediately followed the final victory in the Champions League, which he would win four times with Barça. The last Big Ears Cup for Messi (and Barcelona) dates back to 2015. Messi’s last trophy in blue-red was the Copa del Rey last season.
Messi’s trophy cabinet at Barcelona
- 10x Spanish national champion
- 7x Spanish cup (Copa del Rey)
- 8x Spanish Supercup
- 4x Champions League
- 3x European Supercup
- 3x World Cup for Clubs
Statistics & Records
Need it said? Lionel Messi’s numbers are insane. Today’s six-time Ballon d’Or winner has 672 goals in 778 club-level matches, scoring a goal every 94 minutes. Of course, Messi scored them all for Barcelona, giving him the highest number of goals ever scored for a single club. In addition, he gave 305 assists in the shirt of the Blaugrana. His astonishing stats also set Messi a lot of records. Below is a list.
Spanish records
*Messi has been La Liga’s top scorer eight times, including the last five seasons. No one has won the ‘Trofeo Pichichi’ more often. In addition, he was also 10 times Player of the Year in Spain.
*All-time top scorer in La Liga with 474 goals in 520 games.
*The 2011-2012 season was a real ‘grand cru’ for Messi. That year he scored no less than 50 league goals. The highest total ever in a single La Liga season.
*Even more than the 2011-2012 season, the 2012 calendar year was Messi’s absolute highlight. Nine years ago, he scored 91 goals across all competitions (including 12 goals for Argentina, ed.). With this, he broke the record that was considered unapproachable by Gerd Müller, who hit 85 goals in 1972.
*Messi also scored the most home and away goals in a single La Liga season. In 2011-2012, he managed 35 of his 50 goals at Camp Nou. The following year, 2012-2013, he set a record with 24 goals by distance. That happened in 15 consecutive away games, also a record.
*The Argentine star became the top scorer and assisted king of the Spanish league in the 2011-2012, 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 seasons. A double blow that no one did before him.
*In the 2012-2013 campaign, Messi scored against every team in La Liga. He did so in 27 of the 38 league matches. A record that Messi shares with Cristiano Ronaldo, who already performed that feat the season before.
*Messi has also made life miserable for the most number of Spanish teams. The Argentinian scored no fewer than 38 Spanish first division players in his career. Only Raùl and Aduriz (35) come close.
*All those goals also make Messi the most hat-tricks (41) ever. He also scored four times in six games. He even scored five goals in one game. Bayer Leverkusen was the victim on March 7, 2012.
*They will also think of Messi at Barcelona when they think of free kicks. De Vlo is the top scorer of all time in Spain with 38 goals on the free kick.
*Lionel Messi is the man with the most victories ever in official competitions: 542. Former teammate Xavi follows at a good distance with 476 victories. His counter is also the highest in the Spanish league, with 383 victories.
*Messi is also El Clásico’s all-time record player. He played 45 official matches against Real Madrid with Barça and scored 26 times. Nobody does better.
Records at FC Barcelona
*Most official appearances for the club: 778. Messi played just eleven more than the previous record-holder, Xavi.
*Messi became the youngest Barça player ever to reach the 100 and 200 goal mark. He was then 22 and 24 years old respectively.
*Club top scorer in the Champions League with 120 goals. The first pursuers are Rivaldo and Suarez, with… 25 goals. The absolute top scorer of the championship ball is Cristiano Ronaldo. He has already scored 135 times.
*Barça player with most CL goals in one season. Messi scored 14 goals in the Champions League in his peak year 2011-2012. Two years later, Cristiano Ronaldo broke that record by scoring 17 times.
*Messi, along with Pedro, is the only player in club history to score in six official competitions in one year. Messi did that in 2011, Pedro two years earlier.
